Typically, a stringed instrument, such as an acoustic guitar, includes a generally hollow body. For most stringed instruments, the body is formed by a front or forward panel with a sound hole opening, one or more side boards connected to and extending back from the front panel, and a backboard attached along the back edges of the one or more side boards. This general configuration of elements creates a resonance chamber within the body of the guitar. One of ordinary skill in the pertinent arts may refer to the forward panel as a soundboard or topboard. While the sound hole opening generally has a circular shape, other shapes may be utilized to produce different tonal qualities of the guitar. Generally, these elements of an acoustic guitar are constructed of wood, composite materials, or other suitable materials, or some combination thereof.
A typical acoustic guitar also typically include a neck, wherein one end of the neck connects to the body and the other end terminates in a headstock. Guitar strings may then be strung from the headstock along the length of the neck towards the body and attached to a bridge connected the forward panel, with the bridge being positioned on the forward panel such that the strings extend over or near the sound hole. The bridge may optionally include a saddle, whereby vibrations from the strings are transferred to the forward panel, i.e., soundboard, resulting in the vibration of the entire soundboard. For example, the strings may vibrate when plucked, strummed, or otherwise displaced by a player's fingers or a plectrum, e.g., a “pick”. When the strings vibrate above the sound hole, the overall bodily configuration of the guitar, including the resonance chamber, cooperate to amplify the sound created by the vibrating soundboard.
However, when playing a stringed instrument with a plectrum, there is a continuing risk that the plectrum or other foreign item may enter into the hollow body of the instrument via the sound hole. For example, the pick may fall out of the player's fingers when playing the instrument. The presence of the foreign item in the hollow body may alter the tonal qualities of the instrument, and retrieving the plectrum from the instrument is often time consuming and difficult. While current sound hole covers may prevent the introduction of the foreign item into the body of instrument, these covers mute the sound of the instrument and essentially defeat the purpose of the instrument's resonance chamber.